A jury in Bradley County, Tennessee handed down substantial punitive damages award and compensatory damages award against Erie Insurance Exchange (“Erie”) in a case involving its failure to pay a claim for losses arising from vandalism and theft at apartment units which it insured. The case is a must read…
Tennessee Business Litigation Lawyers Blog
What Happens When the Language of a Will Is Not Clear? Court of Appeals of Tennessee Reviews Guidelines
In probate litigation in Tennessee, disputes sometimes center on what the person who made the will (the “testator” or “testatrix”) meant in the will. Such litigation can fairly easily be avoided by careful will drafting. Nevertheless, wills are sometimes not sufficiently precise or are susceptible to different interpretations–particularly wills drafted…
The Resulting Trust Theory of No Help to Mother Who Paid for Construction Costs of Home
There are many situations in which Tennessee courts have been able to impose resulting trusts to recover property for aggrieved parties when no other legal avenue was available to help. The law of resulting trusts, to boil it down to the point of over generalization, allows a court “to follow…
Tennessee Court Finds Fraudulent Conveyance Between Husband and Wife
Collecting a judgment or debt owed from either a husband or wife, but not owed by them jointly, can be difficult, if not impossible. Why so? Jointly owned property, in many circumstances, is not subject to a creditor’s claim against just one of the spouses. Some spouses try to avoid…
Commercial General Liability Insurance Policies v. Errors and Omissions Policies
The Court of Appeals of Tennessee, in a case involving the litigation of a commercial general liability policy (“CGL policy”), issued an opinion that is helpful for those trying to understand the coverage parameters of commercial general liability policies. Commercial general liability policies are perhaps the most prevalent and common…
In Undue Influence Case, Tennessee Court Holds Marriage Does Not Necessarily Establish Confidential Relationship
In a case with potentially significant ramifications for other undue influence cases, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee ruled that, just because the Wife and Husband were married (for 17 years, no less), that fact did not establish a confidential relationship. Establishing a confidential relationship in undue influence cases is…
Jury Verdict In Favor of Pepper Client in Undue Influence and Breach of Trust Case
On July 18, 2013, a jury in Davidson County, Tennessee returned a verdict for a client of the firm who was represented by attorney J. Ross Pepper. The firm’s client was the defendant (“Defendant”) in an undue influence case. The plaintiff (“Plaintiff”) in the case also alleged that the Defendant…
Uniform Commercial Code: Warranties Under Tennessee Law
If you do business in Nashville, or anywhere else in Tennessee, you might be wise to know something about the warranty provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”). Those warranty provisions are contained in Chapter Two of the UCC, which deals with sales. When do the warranty provisions of the…
Why Contracts Must Have Definite Terms
In what should have been an easy win in a breach of contract case, a Tennessee bank went home with a goose egg after the Court of Appeals applied a fundamental rule of Tennessee contract law to the facts of the bank’s case. The case, which was filed in Coffee…
Partitioning Real Estate and Land in Tennessee by Lawsuit: Does the Court Divide It, or Sell It?
In Nashville, as well as all other Tennessee cities and counties, there is plenty of land— commercial, residential, rural, and urban— that is owned by more than one person as tenants in common, also sometimes referred to as “co-tenants.” There can be two tenants in common or more, to a…